The Israeli army has slapped tough new curbs on foreigners, including journalists and humanitarian workers, operating in the Gaza Strip, scene of the worst recent incidents of violence, a military spokesman said Friday.

They are barred from flashpoint areas and have to sign a document absolving the army from blame if they are killed or wounded as a result of military activity, the spokesman said, while peace activists are effectively banned.

The army says security reasons are behind the latest moves, but rights groups argue Israel is trying to remove international witnesses in areas where its troops are carrying out controversial policies.

The new measures, which came into effect late Thursday, followed the killing of a British television journalist filming Israeli depredations in the southern Gaza Strip, and was accompanied by a crackdown on militants acting as human shields between the army and Palestinian civilians.

The restrictions, the first since the Gaza Strip was occupied by Israel in 1967, brought immediate protests from humanitarian organisations.

A copy of the form to be filled in on entering the territory was obtained by AFP. It stresses that "the areas adjacent to the perimeter fence, Israeli settlements, lateral roads" serving settlements and army positions are "strictly out of bounds".

"The IDF (Israeli army) cannot accept responsibility for death, injury or damage/loss of property incurred as a result of military activity," the waiver also says.

Amnesty International said some of its delegates were denied access to the Gaza Strip Friday after refusing to sign the waiver.

"The organisation is concerned that one of the aims of these new drastic restrictions is to prevent outside monitoring and scrutiny of the conduct of the Israeli army," a statement said.

The rights watchdog also said that "the signing of waivers does not absolve the Israeli army of its responsibility in any way, nor the Israeli authorities of their duties to ensure that armed forces respect human rights in all circumstances."

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Medecins du Monde (MDM) also both vigorously condemned the new measure and said signing a document banning them from operating in sectors where their assistance is most needed was out of the question.

For its part the International Committee of the Red Cross claimed it received guarantees from the Israeli authorities that the waiver did not apply to its staff, but only to NGO's.

The document also points out that "interference or obstruction of Israeli security personnel in the performance of their duties is a criminal offence."

This clause is a thinly-veiled allusion to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) or any other non-violent organisation engaged in human shield activities to protect the Palestinian civilians from the Israeli army.

The waiver says any foreigner wishing to enter the Gaza Strip will also have to certify that he has no links with the ISM, "or any other organisation whose aim it is to disrupt IDF operations".

Adam Keller, the spokesman for Israel's main peace group Gush Shalom, charged that "instead of changing the behaviour the ISM is objecting to, the army is simply trying to remove witnesses".

The new restriction comes after a string of incidents involving foreigners in the occupied territories, and especially in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.

British television journalist James Miller was shot dead there a week ago by Israeli forces, while an ISM volunteer was crushed to death and another was pronounced clinically dead following incidents involving the army in the past two months.

In the West Bank, which has been almost totally reoccupied by Israeli troops, the army arrested three ISM volunteers in a raid on the group's main office near Bethlehem, and confiscated computer equipment and records, an ISM spokesman said Friday.

Palestinian witnesses said the building was surrounded by 15 armoured vehicles and searched by soldiers, who emerged with two foreigners and computers.

Police spokesman Gil Kleiman said the three were being interrogated by the police and that the two foreigners were "suspected of being in a closed military zone illegally".

"The army is planning to evacuate all internationals from the territories and that under any reason. They just don't want any witnesses for their actions," Ghassan Andoni said.

Press reports have said the Israeli authorities were considering expelling all ISM members from Israel and the Palestinian territories.AFP